Brand Loyalty No Match For In-Store Mobile Offers

ByL2 ·

12 March 2012

For many shoppers, brand loyalty is an important factor in the shopping experience. This is especially true the more expensive or special a purchase is. For something like a new luxury car, an engagement ring, or even a bottle of perfume, one is much more likely to consider only those brands with which one has familiarity. This familiarity could be a direct personal connection (“We’ve always had Cadillacs, so we’re only looking at Cadillacs”), or in many cases, an aspirational one (“I’ve always wanted to own a Cartier”).

A few rungs down the retail ladder at drugstores and mainstream department stores, however, brand loyalty serves at best as a starting point. When it comes to repeat purchases like toothpaste, mass-marketed makeup or gym socks, visuals and value tend to take over.

Recognizing that customers are open to buying new and different things when they walk into these stores, some brands have begun to think beyond traditional advertising methods and started to digitally nudge shoppers toward their products by offering real-time mobile promotions. According to a new survey released today by AisleBuyer, this strategy could prove enormously effective. Of the more than 1,000 people surveyed, 75 percent said they would be willing to switch brands if they received a mobile promotion on their smartphone while shopping. Among the younger demographic (25-34), this number jumped up to 82 percent.

It’s unclear how brands will be able to target a critical mass of shoppers other than through geo-local channels like Foursquare and Facebook Places, both of which rely on a user’s initial input of location information. But as they say, technology always seems to find a way.